To be precise, it was not just Qiu Guiren who died, but also her confidant maid Ying'er.
The two of them hanged themselves from the beam in their respective bedrooms, and Qiu Guiren also left a suicide note.
Zhenliang never expected that Qiu Guiren was the mastermind behind Zhenqi's murder.
Recalling the day of Zhenqi's accident, Qiu Guiren chatted with the queen at Qingfeng Pavilion in order to have evidence of alibi and naturally rule out the suspicion. The subordinates sent by Nangong Lie to investigate did not include her in the investigation at all.
scope.
In her suicide note, Qiu Guiren told the story of how she plotted to kill Zhenqi.
On that day, that is, the day when Nangong Lie rescued Zhenliang from Youyuan, Ying'er happened to see Zhenqi holding a gray rabbit in his mouth. The gray rabbit was obviously dead.
Although Ying'er stood far away, she felt that the gray rabbit looked more and more familiar. When she saw it clearly from a close distance, she screamed in horror, because this rabbit was her mother-in-law's personal pet and was extremely precious.
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Fearing that she would be scolded by the emperor who was about to approach, Ying'er turned around and left immediately in fear, and then quickly told Qiu Guiren about the incident.
Qiu Guiren originally had a lot of jealousy towards Zhenliang, but she was aloof and aloof, and would neither approach Zhenliang diligently, nor secretly do harm to her, or say bad things about her. However, in the spirit of not offending me,
My principle is not to offend others. Now that Zhenliang’s pet has bitten her pet to death, how can she swallow her anger?
She would not be stupid enough to argue with Zhenliang, causing the emperor to become even more indifferent to her, and she would not be stupid enough to directly murder Zhenliang, unless she no longer wanted to live in this palace.
In the end, she decided to retaliate and put all the blame on Zhenqi. Although she hated Zhenqi a lot more, it was Zhenqi who bit the gray rabbit to death, so she wanted to let Zhenqi die.
Pay for your life.
So, while Zhenliang and the queen were chatting under the Qingfeng Pavilion, she ignored her own dignity and shamelessly got close to them, just to create the illusion of not being there.
Her dowry maid Ying'er was different from other maids and palace maids. Except for her, no one in the palace knew that Ying'er knew martial arts and was very good at it.
After Zhenliang asked Zhenqi to go away, Ying'er, who was hiding in the shadows, aimed an arrow at Zhenqi's abdomen...
In other words, Qiu Guiren and Ying'er committed suicide out of fear of guilt. They were afraid that the emperor would find out about them one day. They ended their lives by committing suicide, not entirely because of repentance, but also to make Nangong Lie look away.
Let the Qiu family go.
Although Qiu Guiren's father is not an official in the court, he is one of the four wealthy businessmen in the capital. If the emperor bans him because of Qiu Guiren's affairs, then not only the position of the four wealthy businessmen will be difficult to protect, but also how to survive will become a problem.
After Eunuch Jiao finished explaining the matter, he left first.
Seeing that Nangong Lie was still sitting in his original position, Zhen Liang said, "They say that a couple's love lasts for a night, so why won't the Emperor take a last look at Mr. Qiu?"
Nangong Lie never raised his eyes, opened his lips and asked, "Do you think I should go see it?"
I'm so speechless, that's his woman, what does it have to do with her?
Nangong Lie poured hot tea into the teacup in front of Zhenliang and said coldly, "I won't go."
Because he didn't have even the slightest affection for Qiu Guiren, he didn't even have a special impression of what she looked like, he only knew whose daughter she was.
When Nangong Lie's words were heard in Zhenliang's ears, they turned into heartless and meaningless words.
Zhenliang couldn't help but sigh and sarcastically said, "If it was my concubine who was hit by an arrow that day, and it was my concubine who died that day, the emperor would treat my concubine the same way he treats Qiu Guiren, right?"
Nangong Lie's eyes gleamed, Zhenliang saw this and said quickly, "Oh, the emperor will definitely not do it, because my concubine's parents are not ordinary people to the emperor."
"No nonsense." Nangong Lie originally wanted to add that you are different from them, but when he saw Zhenliang's mocking look on his face, he became so angry that he didn't want to say anything nice and sincere.
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Zhenliang stood up and said somewhat insincerely, "Your Majesty, now that the real murderer has been found, shouldn't you fulfill your promise?"
Nangong Lie stood up and said, "If the real culprit is really found, I will definitely give you a date to leave the palace. However, it is a pity that I see disdain and suspicion in your eyes."
Zhenliang was startled and asked, "What does the emperor mean by this?"
"It's very simple," Nangong Lie paced casually in the imperial study, then suddenly stopped and said, "Although Qiu Guiren's master and servant committed suicide, you don't believe that they were the ones who murdered Zhenqi.
The culprit."
Zhenliang sighed helplessly, "It's not that my concubine's eyes are filled with disdain and suspicion, but that the emperor's judgment is exactly the same as my concubine's, isn't it?"
Nangong Lie did not deny it. He looked at the neat rows of books on the bookcase and said, "I just heard Eunuch Jiao introduce Qiu Guiren's deeds. I feel that she is not good at using scheming, but more like being instigated by others."
Zhenliang high-fived her in approval and sighed, "Qiu Guiren came out of the water. This should be very helpful for the emperor to find the real culprit, right?"
Nangong Lie nodded, "Of course, it won't exceed three days."
Hearing this, Zhenliang's eyes brightened and he said, "So, I will be able to leave the palace in three days?"
Nangong Lie glanced at her, "You are really good at amnesia. I just said that the day you leave the palace will be decided by me."
Zhenliang stuck out her tongue and couldn't help but mutter, "Stingy. Anyway, no matter what the result will be in three days, I hope the emperor can give me a specific date."
Nangong Lie pretended not to hear, and directly issued an order to expel the guests, "Go back."
Zhenliang was stunned for a moment and left the imperial study without saying a word.
In any case, the result of meeting Nangong Lie this time was much better than she expected. He did not refuse directly, but gave her a lot of hope.
Thinking of Zhenqi who was still being strictly guarded by Jinye in Qiongyu Palace, Zhenliang sighed. No wonder Zhenqi acted so strangely in the past few days, as if he was very dependent on her and very uneasy. Perhaps, animals' senses are sometimes better than
Humans are much stronger. They can foresee that they will be harmed, right?
When we returned to Qiongyu Palace, the atmosphere was noisy, and everyone was talking about Qiu Guiren's master and servant.
Zhenliang called Yinye into the room alone and asked, "Do you believe what Qiu Guiren said?"
Yinye shook his head silently.
Zhenliang sighed and said, "Although the emperor intends to help Zhenqi redress his grievances, if the mastermind behind it is the Queen Mother, how do you think he will explain to me?"
Yin Ye thought about it seriously and said, "If you are really the queen mother, according to human nature, the emperor will definitely not speak frankly to the empress, but will find a scapegoat."
Zhenliang smiled bitterly, "You are right, then we will wait and see who the scapegoat is, right?"